Data from: Baseline glucocorticoids are drivers of body mass gain in a diving seabird ...

• Main Authors: Hennin, Holly L., Wells-Berlin, Alicia M., Love, Oliver P.
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2017
• Subjects: white-winged scoter; Melanitta fusca deglandi; captive study; baseline corticosterone; Manipulation; Melanitta fusca
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.h3r11; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.h3r11

Life-history trade-offs are influenced by variation in individual state, with individuals in better condition often completing life-history stages with greater success. Although resource accrual significantly impacts key life-history decisions such as the timing of reproduction, little is known about the underlying mechanisms driving resource accumulation. Baseline corticosterone (CORT, the primary avian glucocorticoid) mediates daily and seasonal energetics, responds to changes in food availability, and has been linked to foraging behavior, making it a strong potential driver of individual variation in resource accrual and deposition. Working with a captive colony of white-winged scoters (Melanitta fusca deglandi), we aimed to causally determine whether variation in baseline CORT drives individual body mass gains mediated through fattening rate (plasma triglycerides corrected for body mass). We implanted individuals with each of three treatment pellets to elevate CORT within a baseline range in a randomized ... : Hennin 2016 - WWSC DataThese are data from an experiment in captive white-winged scoters in which we manipulated corticosterone to examine the profile of release of corticosterone over time, the impact on the HPA axis and subsequent changes in mass and fattening. ...